Advanced Neurological Monitoring for Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery

No methods routinely are used to detect brain injury during cardiothoracic and vascular surgery and no information exists on the combined time-profile and consequences of cerebral and systemic hemodynamic changes during surgery on postoperative complication and postoperative length of stay. At present, experience with neurophysiological techniques includes the ability to measure cerebral blood flow velocity/emboli and regional cerebral venous oxygen saturation by transcranial Doppler ultrasound and by Near-Infrared-Spectroscopy, respectively. Continuous monitoring of these variables along with systemic hemodynamics will provide a better understanding of mechanisms of brain and other organ injury during cardiothoracic and vascular surgery.